


Double Standard of Suspicion

by foxjar



Series: Two Sides Twist and Then Collide [2]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe - Tokyo Ghoul, Anal Sex, Barebacking, Blood and Gore, Bottom Kitagawa Yusuke, Cannibalism, Dirty Talk, Drama, First Time, Injury, M/M, Romance, Rough Sex, Shower Sex, Top Akechi Goro, Unhealthy Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:56:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24779509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foxjar/pseuds/foxjar
Summary: More than anything, Akechi wanted to be right."What did you think was going to happen when you helped a ghoul?" Akechi snaps, turning to face Yusuke but there's just that red curtain between them. "What did you think it meant?""Would you have rather I left you to die?" Yusuke asks.Akechi hates the way he sounds so defeated, as if Yusuke is the one that is hated by the world, hunted and slaughtered merely for existing."Yes," Akechi says. He thinks of Yusuke's eyes back when he first showed him his kakugan. How full of life they looked, as if he wished for nothing but a pencil and paper to draw him with right then and there, safety be damned. "Yes, I wish you would have let me die."
Relationships: Akechi Goro/Kitagawa Yusuke
Series: Two Sides Twist and Then Collide [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1792444
Comments: 12
Kudos: 99
Collections: Fandom For Australia





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [EvilMuffins](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvilMuffins/gifts).



> This was written for the Fandom for Australia 2020 charity drive!
> 
> Thank you to KelpieChaos for betaing.

From one ward to the next — nowhere is home and nowhere is safe. They spend every night in a new hotel, but eventually they'll run out of money or the Doves will catch up to them.

Akechi hadn't meant to drag Yusuke into all of this. It was an impulsive decision at the time, and thinking back now, he wonders if he regrets it. If he hadn't saved Yusuke that time outside Leblanc, he doesn't know what would have happened to him.

But would that have mattered at this point? He wouldn't have Yusuke to cart around with him all over Tokyo now. He would be alone, and if the Doves caught up to him, he'd only have himself to blame. He prefers it that way, relying only on himself to survive. It's what he's done his whole life now. He's always preferred not to burden himself with the anchors provided by relationships, whether it be platonic or romantic.

Both humans and ghouls alike are tools to be used to help him achieve his goals and nothing more. Without them, he wouldn't have been able to work as a detective. He wouldn't have anyone to talk to, either, and a world with no one but himself sounds lonely.

Even though his public persona has been a farce, Akechi doesn't want to be alone. It's one of the few things that terrifies him: the thought of being ostracized for who he truly is. When he lies through his teeth and fakes every smile, it's so much easier to fit in. No one would like him if they knew he were a ghoul, after all. They wouldn't even wait long enough to find out if he's worth listening to. And because he's a ghoul, his words wouldn't matter; ghouls are all just heartless killers — according to the government, anyway.

Humans have their own flaws. They're weak and fleshy, trusting and naive. Although they're helpful to a certain degree, they're food first and foremost. His mother trusted humans, and in the end that led to her downfall.

For ghouls, it seems like such a vicious cycle: growing up to learn that humans can't be relied on, meeting one that they think is different, then they end up being betrayed. It doesn't seem to matter who it is or how much love they might've harbored between them.

Akechi has never heard of any stories where a ghoul and a human were able to coexist. Not outside of absurd fairytales, anyway. There are no happy endings, not for ghouls.

It all seemed so much easier before. But that life is gone now; Akechi Goro has been outed as a ghoul. A heartless killer.

Whenever Yusuke falls asleep, Akechi turns the television on, volume low as he scours the news. His face is plastered on the screen every so often; when once he had graced the news with his witty charm and alleged prowess as a detective, now his feature is all about how he's a murderous cannibal on the loose.

After a while, he stops checking the news. He's had his fill of the limelight for now.

His and Yusuke's latest hotel room is small, with the two beds so close together that Akechi can barely squeeze between them. The mattresses are thin and the blankets are scratchy, but with the room only costing them two thousand yen a night, he can't complain. Not much, anyway — it's Yusuke who fills that void, groaning at every opportunity about how uncomfortable his bed is, how stuffy the room feels.

There are thick red curtains in-between their beds for privacy, and Akechi makes sure to always keep them closed. Although he can still hear Yusuke's muttering, at least he won't have to see his face or the anguish in his eyes.

All the while, Yusuke has been scratching on a pad of paper with his pen. He's been taking them from the hotels they stay in, relieving them of the patterned paper so conveniently kept on the nightstand. Akechi can't see him with the curtain between them, but he can hear the constant scritch scratch as the pen touches the page. He knew before all this happened that Yusuke was an artist, but he wonders what he's drawing. What could possibly be driving him to create now, of all times? What does art matter when their lives are at stake?

"We'll be in another room tonight," Akechi says, staring up at the nothingness on the ceiling as he tries to think of anything but the pangs of hunger twisting in his stomach. "Maybe even a different ward. Maybe we won't even be in Tokyo anymore. We might be dead."

Yusuke doesn't say anything for a while, and Akechi thinks he might've finally decided to stop talking. Finally, peace — no more Yusuke lamenting about how dire their situation is or how hard it's been.

But then Yusuke's complaints continue, hammering in Akechi's head.

"Every room we stay in is like this," Yusuke says, his voice quiet and subdued like he's a child who's just been scolded.

"What did you think was going to happen when you helped a ghoul?" Akechi snaps, turning to face him but there's just that red curtain between them. "What did you think it meant?"

"I was only repaying your kindness."

"It wasn't kindness. It was just instinct."

 _But instinct for what?_ Akechi wonders. _To die?_

"Would you have rather I left you to die?" Yusuke asks.

Akechi hates the way he sounds so defeated, as if Yusuke is the one that is hated by the world, hunted and slaughtered merely for existing.

"Yes," Akechi says. He thinks of Yusuke's eyes back when he first showed him his kakugan. How full of life they looked, as if he wished for nothing but a pencil and paper to draw him with right then and there, safety be damned. "Yes, I wish you would have let me die."

It isn't the worst thing Akechi has said to someone, and although he realizes how bad it sounds once the words have left his mouth, he doesn't apologize. He just lets the air keep its stale silence until the next morning when they're packing up to continue their seemingly neverending adventure.

Akechi has no one to look to for help and Yusuke claims the same, so they haven't had a specific destination in mind. If Akechi were alone, he could have holed up with other ghouls for a while, but not many ghouls would understand his predicament. Why keep Yusuke around? Why not eat him and be done with it?

Yusuke has no one, after all. He said so himself.

Akechi doesn't understand why he keeps Yusuke around, either.

* * *

Before Akechi was forced into a life of running with Yusuke, he lived like a star in the eyes of the public. He was kind and timid, amazing his fans and detractors alike with his quick wit.

Akechi doesn't have to pretend anymore. He doesn't have to be anyone but himself, and the moment Yusuke tires of him — the real Akechi Goro, once hidden beneath layers of lies and hatred — he's free to leave. There are no restraints holding Yusuke in place; Akechi doesn't forbid him from leaving.

Yusuke just stays. If they're together, Akechi can at least offer some protection. Once he's away from Akechi, he's on his own. Akechi knows from experience that the Doves won't listen to him now. Kitagawa Yusuke has been branded as a ghoul's accomplice.

When they stop at a convenience store early the next morning, Akechi doesn't even try to justify his actions to himself. He shoos Yusuke off to buy food before wandering through the aisles.

There's a small section at one corner of the store dedicated to art supplies. They're cheap, pastel, and plastered with characters he doesn't recognize — some kid's show, maybe — but they're better than what Yusuke's been using. He slips a small pad of paper into his pocket along with a mechanical pencil. Yusuke draws a lot, so he grabs a few extra lead containers too.

Giddiness ripples through Akechi and he almost laughs. What might people think of the ace detective now, resorting to stealing cheap art supplies? The world hates him and Akechi hates the world back. He doesn't think the store will miss a few pencils; Yusuke will put them to better use rather than letting them sit on the shelf to collect dust.

They both withdrew as much money as they could from their bank accounts when they first set out. But between the two, that money is dwindling. As much as Yusuke seems to love art, it's more important to Akechi that his human companion has food to eat and a warm place to sleep.

He tries not to think about the fact that he cares at all about Yusuke's wellbeing. Part of him is sure that it's part of the public persona he built up. People wanted him to be warm and caring, so that's what he became.

When he meets back up with Yusuke outside, the sky is still dark as dawn starts to set in. Yusuke is holding onto a plastic bag with one hand and when he sees Akechi looking at it, he tries to hide it behind him.

"Let me see," Akechi says, snatching the bag before Yusuke can respond. Inside are a few cheap snacks, lacking any real nutritional value. Although Akechi is a ghoul, he's eaten similar foods in front of people to fit in. To make them feel like he was one of them.

Yusuke needs real food, not the paltry excuse for sustenance that he picked out, and Akechi is about to deride his selection, but then a shiver creeps its way down his spine. He sniffs the cool morning air, full of the unknown.

Danger.

"We have to go," Akechi says, pushing at Yusuke's shoulder to lead him through a nearby alley. "Now."

Even as he turns back to see an investigator from the CCG, he's cursing at himself for letting them get cornered. The alley seems to stretch on forever, an endless hallway sentencing him to death. When he looks over at Yusuke, he sees worry gloss over his eyes although it's not a full-blown panic just yet. He doesn't have his icy magic out here in the real world, and Akechi imagines it must sting to be given such powers, only to have them stripped away.

Akechi has always been fighting. His entire life thus far has been a struggle against every force that dares to hurt him: the CCG, humans, himself.

Yusuke has always been a logical man — often eccentric, but as a phantom thief, he was an invaluable asset to the team. He saw routes woven through Palaces and Mementos that sometimes no one else saw.

_What should we do now, dear leader?_

The words almost slip past Akechi's lips, a painful reminder for Yusuke that they no longer have Akira to rely on. They only have each other now.

Instead, Akechi turns to face the investigator. The man chasing them doesn't bother with words; he just laughs, a deep chuckle rumbling through the alley. One of the more sadistic investigators that the CCG employs.

Akechi waits for him to unlatch his briefcase and unleash his quinque, a bright red koukaku that wraps around his arm and chest. It's unsettling to look at a quinque and think of how it was created from a kakuhou stripped from a ghoul, like flesh seared from bone.

Had that ghoul been a criminal — perhaps a serial killer, their reign of terror finally ending? Or had they been innocent, only fighting to protect their family?

 _I am neither,_ Akechi thinks. _I am both._

He braces himself against the oncoming assault, unfurling his kagune from his back, rippling through his skin like fire. Having an ukaku-type, he's at a disadvantage against the defensive koukaku.

But Akechi has something that the investigator doesn't. He can't see Yusuke now but he can smell him, the faintest whiff of paint water and orchids. When he closes his eyes, he can imagine Yusuke painting all sorts of flowers, as if that is why he might smell that way. As if that's how any of it works.

It's illogical but comforting, even as the sharp tip of the investigator's quinque tears through his calf. The burning pain thrums through his leg as his skin tries to weave itself back together. He jumps back, bracing himself again. This time, he won't fail.

Akechi has someone relying on him to make it through this.

The investigator's quinque is heavy, weighing him down enough for Akechi to be able to dodge his next attack. What he needs is some sort of opening before he runs out of stamina, leaving both himself and Yusuke to the man's mercy.

Akechi tries to stay in between Yusuke and the investigator. While he doesn't think their attacker would abandon his assault just to hone in on Yusuke, he can't be sure. For all Akechi knows, Yusuke could be used as bait to force him into attacking recklessly.

_Why does Yusuke have to be so weak? Fleshy, fragile, and human._

_So vulnerable._

But even as he tries to blame Yusuke, he's really just angry at himself for not being able to protect what matters most to him.

Every slash against his skin fuels Akechi's rage. Why? Why does the world have to be like this?

_I want to live. At least for now._

When the investigator closes in on him, he smells like death, the stench lingering around him in a thick mist. He's close enough for him to see his eyes — bright and swirling with sick amusement — then the quinque is piercing through Akechi's chest. The air smells like copper now as Akechi coughs up blood, searing his throat before it dribbles down his lips.

This is the opening he was looking for. Akechi musters all of his strength, slashing his kagune through the man's neck before falling to the hard ground.

Down the alley, he sees Yusuke standing there, watching him. He can't make out his expression, but he can almost taste the fear in the air.

_I've finally gone and done it. I've finally scared him._

_He'll leave now._

The fact that Yusuke is safe is oddly relieving. It's Akechi's good deed for the day — or maybe his last one.

And yet he can still smell Yusuke. When he closes his eyes, the scent grows stronger, wafting over him.

There's an easel set up a few feet in front of him in this daydream. Yusuke is painting flowers, his strokes slow and deliberate. Before long, there's barely any blank space left on the canvas. Now numerous thyme plants wind their way across the canvas, the petals a soft purple.

Yusuke turns to him and smiles as he dips his brush into a cup of water. The color blooms, filling the water with its pigment.

Tap, tap.

Something about these flowers is different than anything Yusuke has ever painted. Different than anything Akechi has ever known. He doesn't have the words to describe it, but he knows one thing.

These flowers are just for him.


	2. Chapter 2

It's the twisting pain in Akechi's stomach that finally wakes him up. His whole body aches as tremors rock through him and he bites at the still air.

Akechi is hungry, so hungry it feels like he hasn't eaten in months. Years. A ghoul can survive on a single corpse for around a month, but he can't even remember the last time he was allowed such a delicacy.

The last time he ate anything was when Yusuke offered his body to him, and even that was only a nibble. He can still recall the taste of Yusuke's blood in his mouth, hot and swirling around his tongue.

When the bed creaks as Yusuke leans closer, Akechi jerks away from him. He tries to tell himself that Yusuke smells disgusting, that the scent he has grown accustomed to is beneath him and more akin to trash, but he's starving.

So. Very. Hungry.

Yusuke tucks his hair behind his ear as he watches him, peering far too closely at Akechi's face. He knows Akechi could tear his face off in desperation, and yet he takes that risk.

"Where are we?" Akechi asks, right before the pain in his stomach clenches and twists yet again.

"We are at another hotel," Yusuke says. "It is not the most reputable place, but I wished to get you off of the streets and tend to your wounds."

Yusuke is safe, and as agonizing as the pain in Akechi's stomach is, he is, too. That's what should matter right now, but the pain gnaws at him and allows his bitterness to worm its way out.

"If you hadn't taken so much time picking out food at the store, none of that would have happened." Although Akechi wants to snap at him, to show Yusuke how much he frustrates him, the energy he once possessed is gone. "There wouldn't be any wounds for you to tend."

Despite the fact that Yusuke had finished shopping first, he doesn't disagree with the accusation. He just nods, lips parting as his hair falls back over his face. It sends a rush of scents over Akechi — sweat along with that paint water smell again — like a gentle breeze.

_If only I could eat him. It'd solve so many of my problems._

_If only._

Akechi doesn't admit why he himself took so long — how he'd stolen those art supplies. The sentiment seems so trivial now. Why had it been so important to him at the time?

"I apologize for inconveniencing you. I was merely trying to find inexpensive food," Yusuke explains, pulling back to sit beside him on the stiff bed. "I know we are running low on money. I was trying to be less of a burden to you, but in the end, I exacerbated the issue. Please forgive me."

If Akechi were different, he might tell Yusuke that there's nothing to forgive. That it's all in the past now. But instead, he just reaches into his pocket, wincing as he hands Yusuke the tiny sketchpad and pencil. The paper is a little bent, but he figures that it's better than nothing.

Even through all of the pain coursing through his body in a tremor of agony, the look on Yusuke's face somehow makes it all worth it. His face lights up like the morning sun as he cradles the supplies in his arms, his hands shaking.

It's like such kindness is the last thing Yusuke ever expected from anyone. Like he hadn't ever seen the sun before this very moment.

He starts sketching immediately, tucking his legs beneath him on the bed. Akechi watches his enraptured face, despite it all. Yusuke thins his eyes, purses his lips, and brushes away the eraser shavings as he is immersed in his own little world.

A bubble that is all his own.

After a long while, Yusuke stands up to stretch. He sets the sketchpad on the nightstand and tells Akechi that he's going to take a shower. Yusuke turns to look at him before retreating to the bathroom, fresh clothes bundled up in his arms.

Akechi almost shoos him away, but he manages to remain calm until he's finally alone. He waits until he hears the shower rumble to life before he sits up, clutching at the bandage on his stomach. If he had something to eat, he'd be healing much faster.

He doesn't know if he has it in him to ask Yusuke for help. Relying on another person still sounds like a dream — or a nightmare — and it's Yusuke who should be relying on him, not the other way around.

Even if Yusuke had bothered to try to hide his sketchbook, Akechi thinks he'd still go digging for it. Akechi wants to know his secrets — whatever happens to be creeping around inside his head.

What he finds surprises him. Inside the sketchbook are a half dozen quick sketches of Akechi's face, each with a different expression ranging from joy to disgust. Yusuke hadn't even been looking at him while he drew, and yet they all capture his features with such perfection: the swoop of his bangs, the twist in his lips when he's trying to keep himself from smiling.

_When have I ever made these expressions around him?_

Some of the graphite rubs off on his fingers after he touches one of the drawings. Before he can further harm the tiny portraits, he closes the sketchpad and places it back on the nightstand. He doesn't bother to try to set it up exactly as he found it.

Something about the thought of Yusuke finding out he's been snooping amuses him.

The bathroom is already starting to steam up when Akechi slips inside. It's hot and the smell of blood and sweat swims through the air, filling his lungs.

Akechi doesn't know what he's doing here — other than that he is starving and Yusuke smells so good, so enticing. Yusuke is flesh and meat waiting for him the moment his stomach starts to growl. He had been more than willing last time, prostrating himself for Akechi like a sacrificial offering.

But Yusuke is a man, too: living, breathing, and far more loving than Akechi could ever hope to understand. So he says his name, softly at first but it's drowned out by the water falling in the shower.

Louder now.

"Yusuke."

When the shower curtain opens, rings clacking along the curtain rod, Yusuke stands naked before him. There is no shame, no attempt to hide any part of his body from Akechi. They have been through a lot together, but this is something else.

This is a welcoming.

Akechi takes off his clothes, setting them on the counter before stepping into the shower. He watches Yusuke's back, pale and unmarred, as he runs his hands through his hair. The water in his hair makes it so dark as it clings to the back of his neck.

For a while, there's only the steam filling the air and the hunger gnawing at Akechi. But then Yusuke is turning toward him, baring his scars to him that rest just over the curve of his shoulder.

The bite marks are jagged and lie haphazardly across his skin. Akechi remembers the hunger he felt then — so much like what he's feeling now — but it's been weeks since he last saw the injury up close.

And here Yusuke is, offering himself up yet again. Akechi can feel how thin his waist is when he wraps his arms around him, hands trailing up to trace along his ribs. The water is hot against his skin, and Yusuke smells so sweet beneath him.

His blood is the most delicious thing Akechi has ever tasted. It pours into his mouth once his teeth latch onto Yusuke's shoulder, a decadent fire on his tongue. No longer does lassitude plague him; the wound on his stomach etches itself back together, stronger than ever, and he feels alive.

"You are safe," Yusuke murmurs, holding one of Akechi's hands against his hip. Their fingers twine together and Akechi wants to pull away, wants to forget such an intimacy ever occurred, but he doesn't. He can't.

Yusuke shudders as Akechi's lips make their way up his spine. He wraps his hands around Yusuke’s neck, feeling his pulse thrumming wildly beneath his fingers, and he can't help but dig his fingers in. So soft, so fragile — and yet Yusuke doesn't even try to pull away.

He hates how Yusuke's words make him shiver. There are so many layers to the enigma that is Kitagawa Yusuke, and it scares Akechi that he's starting to believe him.

It's Yusuke who moves first, resting his palms against the tiled wall of the shower. He pushes his hips back toward Akechi's, and that's all he has to do to set it all in motion. They don't need words now; they have shifted beyond that.

Quiet gasps leave Yusuke's lips as Akechi drags his nails down his back — hard enough to make his skin red, but not enough to draw blood. He grabs his hips, fitting their bodies together. Yusuke scratches at the wall when Akechi finally slides his cock between his thighs.

Has anyone ever touched Yusuke in such a way? Akechi likes to think that he's the first. If anything, he is at least the first man to both consume his flesh as well as fuck him.

The water cascading down his body feels so far away now as Akechi eases into him. He can still hear the water, but Yusuke's whimpers are louder. The tight heat around him engulfs him, and he almost succumbs to his lust. It would be so easy to push his way fully inside, to take what he wants and be done with it.

Instead, he takes his time. He lets Yusuke push back against him as he rocks forward, sinking into his warmth. The rhythm they build up is slow at first as their bodies grow accustomed to each other, but that pace doesn't last. Akechi is plunging into him before long, with one hand gripping his hip while the other runs up his back. His cock throbs, every inch of him encased in wondrous heat. Their bodies move back and forth as they moan, and although Akechi never says it aloud, his name is running through his head.

_Yusuke._

His toes curl against the floor of the shower, his chest heaving as his breath leaves him. If he let himself, he could come right now, filling Yusuke with everything he has to give. But he fights the way his body begs for release, refuses its most primal desire.

More. More.

It's in Akechi's head at first — that craving for more — but then Yusuke speaks that same desire, voice cracked from pleasure.

"Please, Akechi."

His knees are shaking as he slams his hips forward, burying his cock inside Yusuke. He's chasing release even as he denies himself that same pleasure, wanting to both last forever and come right this moment.

Yusuke is trembling beneath his touch. Every jolt meets Akechi's body, coursing through him as he fucks him. He drapes himself across Yusuke's back, with one hand reaching up to tug at his wet hair. It would be so easy to hurt him if he wanted to, and Yusuke knows that. He tries to lean his head back, silently begging for Akechi to pull harder.

"So you like it rough?" Akechi asks. He tries to make his voice sound low and intimidating, but it's difficult when Yusuke is so tight around him and feels so good, sapping his energy to be snarky. "I learn something new about you every day."

He snaps his hips forward and Yusuke's hands slide down the wall, unable to remain standing, but Akechi is here to hold him up. Akechi won't let him fall.

"Say it. Tell me you love it when I fuck you."

Yusuke moans when one of Akechi's hands run over his hip to touch his stomach. It's so close to his cock, but he refuses to indulge him. Not until he fills Akechi's ears with the sounds of his confession.

"Y-yes," Yusuke says, voice shaky.

Akechi is about to demand again — _say it_ — but Yusuke surprises him.

"I love it when you do that. When you fuck me. Right there, please. Please."

The vulgar words sound so strange coming from Yusuke's mouth, but they are music to Akechi's ears. He rocks into him as he reaches for his aching cock, finally allowing Yusuke an ounce of relief.

Every nerve in Akechi's body is on fire. He wants to draw more vulgarities from Yusuke’s lips, to get him to say everything he's kept inside: each desire and every fear. But the sounds he's making as Akechi strokes his cock are too arousing, too full of bliss. The length of him is covered in pre-come now, wet and slick as Akechi touches him. His knees are quivering and his hips are shaking erratically, and Akechi can feel how close he is.

Akechi is close, too. The pressure is building up at the base of his cock, winding up inside of him until he's finally spilling himself inside of Yusuke. His hips are shaky as he rides out his release, slamming into Yusuke as his body reaches its peak — the lightning shooting through him — before descending. Yusuke grabs the hand that's still wrapped around his cock, gasping as Akechi thumbs his tip as he comes. His hips jerk forward, knees wobbling beneath him, and Akechi can imagine the overstimulation coursing through him. Still he moves his fingers along Yusuke's cock — circling the head, running along the soft underside — but his touch is gentle now. Almost merciful.

When Akechi pulls out of him, lines of come stream down the back of Yusuke's thighs, but the shower washes them away before too long. No matter what happens now, that image will stay with him forever.

After helping Yusuke ease his body to the floor of the shower, Akechi finishes cleaning himself up and steps out. The mirror is completely fogged up now, but he stares at it for a long while. His hands are resting on the rim of the sink as he looks at himself, shapeless and nameless. A forgettable blur.

Yusuke will forget him, too.

He's still standing in front of the mirror when the hiss of the shower finally stops. Part of him wants Yusuke to walk right past him, leaving him here as if there's nothing between them. Nothing holding them together. But Yusuke stays, wrapping his thin arms around Akechi’s waist. His chest is still wet and his skin is a warm balm against his back.

Akechi never imagined anyone would want to be close to him like this. People are always leaving, filtering out of his life once they've had their fill of him. In a way, he doesn't blame them; he's always treated people the same.

But Yusuke is different, an enigma that both frustrates and fascinates him.

"I hope you can see that the metaphorical wall between us is collapsing," Yusuke says, his hair a blue blur in the mirror. "As I have come to rely on you in ways I never imagined."

When Akechi turns around in his arms to face him, he looks neither upset nor pleased. He's just waiting — for rejection or acceptance.

The bite mark on his shoulder isn’t bleeding anymore, but Akechi can still smell the blood lingering just beneath his skin, begging to come out. How many times will Yusuke allow himself to be consumed, to lose a part of himself like this?

 _As many times as it takes,_ Akechi thinks.

Yusuke's eyes thin with curiosity when Akechi runs his thumb across his lip. Soft, so soft — and those eyes, staring at him like it doesn't matter that he's a monster. His eyes acknowledge his sins, but they accept him, despite it all.

Then Akechi leans into his embrace, cupping Yusuke's cheeks before he kisses him. His lips are smooth, and his mouth almost tastes as good as his flesh. Yusuke gasps at the suddenness, and Akechi can't help but smirk into their kiss.

Hands squeeze at Akechi's shoulders, trying to push him away until he finally lets Yusuke suck in a breath of air. Akechi laughs at the incredulous look on Yusuke's face, eyes wide. It's been a long time since he last let himself laugh.

But Yusuke takes it all in stride, touching his flushed lips as he looks up at him. Is he surprised at the tenderness? Akechi isn't sure, but every expression Yusuke makes fuels his desire to kiss him again.

"In time, I will reach out to my friends to let them know that I — that we are safe," Yusuke says, reaching for the fresh set of clothes he left on the counter. He pulls his pants on slowly, as if being nude in front of Akechi doesn't bother him in the least. "I do not wish to cause them any trouble; you know how people are treated when the CCG believes they are gallivanting with ghouls."

It's Yusuke who initiates the kiss this time, crushing their lips together awkwardly as he tries to find what works for him. His inexperience breathes air into Akechi's lungs that he never knew he needed.

Something about being the one with the opportunity to show Yusuke how to be intimate with another person like this makes him shudder. All of that control at his fingertips, finally being both needed and wanted.

Desired, even.

"For the time being, all I have is you," Yusuke continues. "And all you have is me. I hope that you will come to find this arrangement adequate."

Akechi has spent his whole life running, always running. He never imagined someone would want to remain beside him — despite his need for flesh and his craving to be something far beyond himself — but that’s exactly where Yusuke intends to stay.

**Author's Note:**

> [Thyme](https://hananokotoba.com/thyme/) is for June 2nd (Akechi's birthday) and one meaning is "courage."
> 
> After checking Akechi's wiki, I decided to give him an ukaku kagune. His initial listed stats seemed kind of low in endurance while high in agility, and I thought that fit with the high speed/lower endurance ukaku.
> 
> I wrote the prequel to this story for an exchange where you had to have "blue" in the title, and looking through the songs I liked with the word in the title, I came across [Taking Back Sunday's "My Blue Heaven"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXmfLV9VvRw) again. (The name for the series as well as this fic are from the song too.) I came to associate this AU with the song, and it inspired me a lot.


End file.
